World Baseball Classic Preview
The Dominicans and Americans should dominate, but the undercards will be just as fun. Matt Harvey on Team Italy? Trayce Thompson on Team Great Britain? Freddie Freeman on Team Canada? Let's dive in!
Last week MLB released the rosters for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will begin on March 7. The tournament—which was born in 2006—is back after a six-year hiatus. (It was supposed to take place in 2021 but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Japan won the first two tournaments, held in ’06 and in ’09. The Dominican Republic won in ’13. The United States are the reigning champs, having captured the crown in ’17. (Puerto Rico finished second in both ’13 and ’17).
Maybe it’s because it’s been six years since the last WBC, or maybe it’s because this year’s rosters are absolutely loaded with superstars, but I am extremely excited for these games to start, more so than ever before. It’s simply no longer possible for me to get my baseball fix from interminable spring training games. Plus, the guys I most want to see in March won’t be toiling around Scottsdale or Fort Myers, anyway.
Check out this tidbit from MLB’s VP of communications, Michael Teevan:
In other words, the WBC will be as stuffed with talent this year as the pop categories of the Grammys were, with Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Lizzo and Harry Styles all competing against each other. I think Beyoncé is the Dominican Republic in this scenario, because like her most recent album, “Renaissance,” the D.R.’s lineup has no skips:
I texted this screen shot to a major league pitching coach you all know and asked him for his advice on how to navigate this lineup. I received one word in reply: “Unreal.” Jeremy Peña was the best player in the 2022 postseason. He won the ALCS and the World Series MVP awards. He may hit ninth for this team.
But seriously, what is the opposing pitcher supposed to do in this situation? Walk the bases loaded, (walk multiple runners In??), to get to Gary Sánchez and hope he doesn’t hit a ball 500 feet? Fake a positive COVID test to get out of playing altogether?
And it’s not like the Dominicans will need to score that many runs to blitz through the tournament, anyway. Their top two starting pitchers are Sandy Alcántara—the reigning unanimous NL Cy Young winner and best pitcher in the world right now—and Christian Javier, who gave up one (1) hit and no runs in his two postseason starts last October to lead the Astros to the franchise’s first World Series championship that we recognize.
As for Team USA? Well, they’re great, too!